I just saw you on the TODAY SHOW and you were fantastic!! I've had the book for only a couple of days and there you were on my TV! I've already made the baked ziti and my kids actually like it BETTER than my usual one. I think it's the tomato sauce with the richer flavor.

My kids will be eating healthier from this day forward. Thankk you so much for making our lives healthier AND easier--I didn't have to be so pushy when I know they're already getting their veggies.

when is your next appearance on TV? are you going to have your own show?

DO YOU HAVE A CALORIE BREAK DOWNS FOR ANY OF THE RECIPES. I AM ON JENNY CRAIG AND LOST 25 LBS. AND I WANT TO START MY MAINTENANCE PLAN AND WOULD LOVE TO INCORPORATE THE RECIPES.
GREAT JOB I AM SPREADING THE NEWS ABOUT THE BOOK AND I ONLY HAVE IT 1 DAY
CORIE

As for calories, sorry to say I don't have that, but most have been reviewed and fall within the guidelines of the American Heart Assn for fat/sugar. Most have half the fat and sugar or traditional recipes. And they are all packed with fiber from the whole grains, beans, veggies, and fruit, which helps in any weight loss effort because it keeps you feeling fuller and prevents overeating.

Keep up the great work....it's worth the effort!
Missy

BY THE WAY MY HUSBAND WHO NEVER HAD A HEALTHY THING IN HIS LIFE LIKES THE COOKIES AND THE PB AND J MUFFINS. HE ACTUALLY TOOK THEM FOR HIMSELF, NOT FROM ME WITH A SALES PITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANKS AGAIN GREAT JOB !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CORIE

You're too kind! And you so supportive of everything healthy for kids. You have my vote for kids' champion of the year!

And you are definitely in the right profession--your students are lucky to have you.

All the best,

Missy

They tasted great, but the larger ones fell apart when I cooked them on a stovetop grill pan. (I made 4 oz burgers for grown ups and 2 oz ones for kids, but my son ate 2 of the small ones!)

I tried the brownies. To be honest, I liked them well enough to eat, but not enough to want to binge. I guess that is good. The kids have not had dessert yet. I told my daughter she can't have dessert because she didn't eat the raw carrots I gave them on the side, but I just realized now that I guess that defeats the whole purpose of ending dinnertime battles. Should I just tell her she doesn't have to eat the carrots? She is 4 and at all but a bite or 2 of the 2 oz burger.

Sorry for the long question!! Thanks for this book!!

Stacy

Thanks for your kind thoughts. It's really a benefit to kids everywhere as more and more parents become aware of how easy it is to sneak healthy foods into kids' favorite meals.

Check out the New York Times piece at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/nyregion/19seinfeld.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin

and the New York Daily News piece at:

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2007/10/19/2007-10-19_jessica_seinfelds_recipes_stir_up_plagia.html

All the best,

Missy

I have had your book for several months now and have made nearly every recipe. The food is fabulous and your ideas are genius! My kids devour the food and the whole family is feeling the difference.

My mother called me when the Oprah show aired and wanted to know if I had the same book because she hears me boast of the fantastic recipes that I use from your book all the time. She said it sounded like the same book, different author. I haven't looked at the other book and don't think I need to do so. It is disappointing what celebrity status can afford these days.

Thank you for inspiring moms and others concerned with good health. I have found your ideas valuable and have adopted them into recipes that my family has loved for years. We can't seem to keep enough good vegetables and wheat germ in the house! I'm going right over to amazon.com to leave a long overdue rave review!
Best wishes,
Stephanie

Keep your head held high and keep smiling!

Shelleen

Regarding the strawberries, it’s definitely a good idea to thaw frozen items prior to pureeing as it’s easier on the blades. Berries thaw quickly, especially if you place the bag in a little warm water. The lemon juice will help them retain all of their appetizing color.

All the best,
Missy

For casein intolerance, try almond or rice milks. Soy milk is suspect for lots of reasons.

Hope this helps!
Missy

Sorry for the delay in answering your question. We just posted the new website, as you may have noticed, and the blog functionality is still being perfected.

The answer to your question is to add the milled flax seed in place of some other dry ingredient like wheat germ or oat bran. Otherwise the proportions will be off.

I'm glad you're thinking so healthily : )

Keep up the good work!

Missy

Thank you so much for the words of encouragement : )

I can't tell how much it means to me to be reaching people like you–no, especially people like you–who have knowledge about nutrition and who are in a position to influence others. It makes my whole life's work worthwhile.

I hope you've seen my work with Columbia Presb. Hospital posted on my website's blog page. My work with them continues to be a major source of inspiration. We're also working with schools in various cities to incorporate Sneaky Chef recipes into their menus.

A recommendation coming from someone with your credentials goes a long way in helping to spread the Sneaky word. People need this information more than ever.

With healthiest regards!

Missy

There are actually scores of vegetarian versions already contained in both the kids' book and the men's book. There will also be many more in book 3, due out next April. If the success of the Sneaky Chef books continues like it is, I will definitely consider making a whole book of vegetarian sneaky recipes as I am partial to vegetarian myself!

Keep up the great eating habits : )

With healthiest regards,

Missy

You're not alone–many people prefer to have their veggies "hidden" within the meal they're eating, rather than having to eat them straight up. Personally, I do both, as I feel that the more the better.

But I understand that many people just don't like them straight up, and there are so many benefits to increasing the quantity of veggies hidden in a dish, including caloric reduction and nutrient enhancement. So, however you like them, keep it up : )

With healthiest regards,

Missy

It's great that you're diving into this : )

Your butter question is an interesting one. I personally prefer butter because it's less processed, but there are cholesterol and other factors to consider, too.

Regarding the avos, slice them in half the long way and leave the pit in the half you don't use. Then place a few drops of fresh lemon juice on it, cover and refrigerate for not more than a day or two.

Enjoy! I can't wait to hear from you when you've reached your goals : )

Missy

Thanks so much for the great feedback (pardon the pun : )

The grab n' go granola bars have been a big hit with men and boys in particular since they're loaded with oats, which are renowned for their high energy (secret: farmers feed them to draft horses when they're going to work them all day ; )

The nutritional info that I have so far is on the free recipes page of the website. I'm adding more all the time, so stay tuned. I'll make the grab n' go granola bars a priority with my nutritional folks.

Keep up the great work!

Missy

Use a 9x9 pan and they will be thicker. You've probably discovered this by now : )

Keep up the great work!

Missy

The "methods" contained in chapter 5 of my first book says exactly how to sneak (see excerpt below). I can already see that there's a lot of information that needs to go into this answer, but I want you and all of my readers to be as best equipped as possible out there!

The basic principles of hiding foods are:

1. Similar colors and textures work well.
2. The healthy ingredient has to either enhance the overall original taste or add no taste of its own.
3. Sneak means don’t taint. You can’t affect the look or texture of the final product any more than the taste.
4. The added ingredient has to be good for you!

Whatever the product, it must meet three criteria: One, it has to have no real taste of its own. Two, it cannot leave too much of a gritty, leafy, or unusual feel or an off-taste in the mouth that will make it distinguishable from the main dish. (As we will see later, there are ways to deal with these effects if they do appear.) Kids are hyper-alert to any differences in their usual foods. In my lab test kitchen, I have also made sure that when these sneaky items are used, there are very few residual flecks of green and no lumpy, grainy, coarse, or harsh texture.

When I tested these products over a period of five years, they had to pass a rigorous test of being bland in taste and virtually invisible in texture. Not only do kids seem to have an unnaturally strong sensitivity to these changes, but they are not in the least bit diplomatic about pointing out their objections. If the words aren’t derisive enough, they usually make a face.

So bland-tasting foods are always chosen over highly pungent ones. No matter how nutritious something is, it will not work if it changes the taste and texture in an obvious way. It was a sad day when I realized I had to reject beets and asparagus because they have strong tastes that cannot be masked. Happily, I found that seemingly smelly cauliflower, which is very nutritious, was one of the easiest foods to hide when pureed.

The third criterion is that the added ingredient must be similar in color to the main dish. For instance, if you want to hide something in macaroni and cheese, you wouldn’t use pureed spinach because it would turn the yellow cheese a sickly color and would impart a “ funny” (definitely a kid word) taste. Ideally, the additive will not appreciably change the color of the main dish because that would be an obvious tip-off to kids that you’ve been sneaky. You have to either match the color of the dish or add a color that doesn’t change it.

In the above example, you could easily introduce White Bean puree into the mac and cheese because it virtually disappears. For a red pasta sauce, you could stir in pureed orange vegetables.

Drastic changes of color do work if the new color is . . . well . . .pretty. For instance, I have added Spinach Juice to color frozen vanilla yogurt a bright green shake for St. Patrick’s Day or Earth Day. I have also, as I mentioned earlier, mixed blueberries into ice cream or frozen yogurt for a delicious bright purple shake.

The experiments were conducted by me to take the guesswork out of it for you. So you can be sure that all of the recipes in this book produce acceptable color changes. I have steered clear of any modifications that incite the “ Ick!” factor.

If you decide to experiment yourself, it is best to use preschool color-mixing guidelines, which dictate that hues that are opposite each other on the color chart will not combine well. For instance, red plus green equals brown. If you try adding spinach puree to spaghetti sauce, you will end up with a sauce the shade of an old shoe. This only works for pizza if you cleverly hide all of the sauce with cheese. You can add carrots though, because orange doesn’t detract from the red. In addition, they cut the acidity of the tomato sauce. Spinach does work well in meat dishes and brownies, though, because brown isn’t affected by green.

I hope this information helps you, and all of my readers!

With healthiest regards,

Missy Chase Lapine
The Sneaky Chef

You certainly have my permission to host a "learn how to cook healthy" night at your son's grade school. You can use whatever recipes you like. Please just acknowledge them as being from The Sneaky Chef.

You can also host a puree party with friends. It's easy. You've inspired me to put this into action and I'm going to post the fun and easy instructions on my website soon! It will be called: “How to Host a Sneaky Chef Puree Party” and will appear in the "Free Recipes" pages of the website.

Thanks for the inspiration :)

With healthiest regards,

Missy Chase Lapine
The Sneaky Chef

I Don’t know if Ace is using the book, but he liked it and allowed a photo with it!  As for losing weight, my recipes are lower fat, calories and sugar, but you need to keep track of quantities as always. So eat my nutritionally enhanced foods, but stop when you are no longer hungry (instead of “full”) – it’s all about quantities.  Eat about half of the amount you think you want, is my rule of thumb.

Enjoy!

Missy
 

For any of you having issues with the granola bars not holding together, try the simple fix I've posted on the Free Recipes pages of the site at:

http://www.thesneakychef.com/free_recipe_granola_bar.php

Enjoy!

Missy

My husband always tries to exercise as much as he can and also watches portion control. These are basics to weight maintenance and loss. I would recommend them to anyone who is interested in losing weight, in addition to making recipes as healthy as they can be using the Sneaky Chef method.

Carry on with the great work you're doing!

All the best,

Missy

As for nutritionals, go to my website and on the Free Recipes, the
nutritionals are at the bottom. We're adding more and more every week,
so check often www.TheSneakyChef.com

And please look at my new book:
http://www.amazon.com/Sneaky-Chef-Kitchen-Hiding-Healthy/dp/0762433205/r
ef=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198336967&sr=1-1
You'll find over 125 more sneaky recipes!!

All my best,
Missy

I love the fact that you are using my recipes almost every day. That makes me feel great : )

There certainly is some nutritional value lost from any kind of processing or storage that we do to any kind of fresh food, and I feel that eating most veggies in their fresh, raw state is superior to cooking or processing them in any way. The Sneaky Chef is a solution for parents of kids (or wives of husbands) who won't eat them fresh and raw.

Kids and men today are often consuming huge percentages of their diets as factory processed foods. It might be OK if these were occasional items, but what we're seeing is a huge portion of the population consuming them as daily staples, leaving very little, if any, really nutritional foods in their diets–and this during a critical phase of their development. The Sneaky Chef brings some real nutrition back to even these processed store bought foods.

Your question about cooking and freezing I feel refers to the affect that heat and oxidation have on the vitamins and other sensitive nutrients contained in the veggies. As we've said, fresh and raw is often best, but cooked still has plenty of nutrition in it, as we all know. But factory processed is absolutely the worst.

Interestingly, the availability of some nutrients is actually enhanced by cooking as it breaks down the tough cell walls protecting the nutrients inside, which would otherwise be unavailable to our bodies for absorption. Here's an interesting study on the subject:

(http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/163937.html)

(PARMA, Italy, Dec. 24 Researchers in Italy report that cooking vegetables can preserve or even boost their nutritional value in comparison to their raw counterparts.)

Again, I feel fresh and raw is best but only if you can get them to eat them that way. Otherwise, sneak 'em in! There's still plenty of nutrition in steamed and pureed broccoli, cauliflower, cooked beans, etc. Compare that to what you get in non-sneakily enhanced boxed processed foods.

Keep up the good work : )

Missy

Give it whirl in your 12 muffin tin. You should reduce the cooking time since they will dry out more quickly due to the smaller size. Check on them regularly with a dry tooth pick to see if they're done (nothing should stick to the toothpick when you pull it out).

They should rise about right if you divide the dough equally.

You're doing great :)

With healthiest regards,

Missy

Thanks!

Mark Salinas
Healthy Living Today

As for Juicy Juice, I’m guessing it has high fructose corn syrup and/or other sugars. And there’s nothing like FRESH for the nutrients… Processed juice can’t replace that.

For the homemade bread, absolutely use my Flour Blend in place of the 5 ½ cups recommended here.

Finally, for your brother-in-law, do you know about my newest book? See it here:
http://www.amazon.com/Sneaky-Chef-Kitchen-Hiding-Healthy/dp/0762433205/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198336967&sr=1-1

all my best,
Missy

Here's an interesting article on osteoporosis, with some more good ideas:
http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/living-with-osteoporosis-7/diet-dangers

My best,
Missy

I know I need to find a way to sneak them into my diet, and would be willing to try purees, but I wouldn't know what to buy or what to do with what I bought.

I wonder, are there pre-made purees that I could buy at the store?

Thanks for any input!

You can look in the book for my list of foods that combine well to enhance the absorption of iron. It's not just about sources of iron, but about absorbing iron. I can also tell you that millet is an excellent source. Here is a partial list of foods that enhance the absorption of iron:

Meat + tomatoes
Blueberries + spinach
Tomato sauce + beans
Potatoes + white beans
Spinach + tomatoes

Enjoy in good health : )

Missy Chase Lapine
The Sneaky Chef